What makes a good teacher? Davenport University's ‘teach off’ attempts to find out

Melissa Collins works with Grand Rapids Public Schools students at Davenport University on Wednesday, May 14.MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Melissa Collins knew the third and fourth graders could grasp the science of how sound works. She just needed to make her lesson entertaining, engaging and relevant.

So Collins – one of three educators participating in a “teach off” hosted by Davenport University’s College of Urban Education – brought in masks, toy microphones and music to use as props.

It was her way, Collins said, of teaching a complex topic in a way that students could grasp -- and along the way showing that through effective teaching, educators can help close the achievement gap facing students of color in science, technology, engineering and math.

With that, Collins took to the stage, guiding six students through a lesson on the principle of sound.

There was music, chanting, a power point presentation, and even Mardi Gras masks, which Collins – a second grade teacher in Memphis, Tenn. – used to tie in the cultural prevalence of music in places like New Orleans.

Now it was up to the students. They would judge how effective Collins – and later, the two other educators – was at teaching her lesson. Could Collins, for instance, have done a better job engaging students? Did the students learn what they were supposed to?

The idea behind the Wednesday, May 14, event, officials said, is to use that feedback to help inform educators at Davenport’s College of Urban Education as they think about how to best train teachers.

“We’re exploring and measuring what skills have an impact on learning,” said Andre Perry, dean of Davenport’s College of Urban Education.

Davenport’s College of Urban Education is expected to accept its first group of master’s level students in the fall. The college is currently in the process of being accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and being approved by the state of Michigan.

In addition to Collins, Gary Abud, a physics teacher at Gross Pointe North High School, and LaToniya Jones, a former teacher who is now an educational consultant in Detroit, participated in the event.

Following her presentation, Collins, who has received national recognition for her math
and science teaching, said she was pleased with her performance.

She said closing the achievement gap students of color face in math and science is a big challenge. But finding teachers who have energy and are enthusiastic about education is part of the answer.

“If the teacher has the passion and desire, it can just spill over onto the students,” Collins said.

“We need to understand what good teaching looks like so we can later train future teacher candidates on those skills,” he said. “So we want to get feedback from students on the demonstrations that are offered.”

He added: “We’re going to use those demonstrations for training purposes.”

Perry also said it’s important that students have a role in evaluating their teachers.

“When we talk about teacher evaluation, we ignore the student voice, and I’m very interested in developing evaluation techniques that involve the student,” he said. “This is just part and parcel our effort to really understand how to create a solid teacher training program.”

Brian McVicar covers education for MLive and The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at bmcvicar@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter